I Met a Bully on the Hill

Sheree Haughian is an elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Dufferin County Board of Education.

Encountering a bully seems to be an inevitably nasty part of growing up,
the stuff of nightmares, cold sweats, and lame excuses to avoid school.
Educators are now recognizing the need to empower students with ways of
dealing with this negative social experience. I Met A Bully on the Hill
is a drama well suited for this purpose.

J.J., a sunny, prattling Grade 3 student, has moved from the country to
a city neighborhood where bully Raymond reigns supreme. Raymond
threatens his ingenuous victim, using extortion tactics for the use of
“his hill” in the manner of a troll planning a trap for the littlest
Gruff. Two street-wise new friends come to her assistance, penetrating
the vulnerable core of fear inside the bully. Retribution is finally
tempered with an appropriate degree of understanding and mercy.

This drama raises many sensitive issues about childhood relationships.
Is loss of self-esteem a deeper injury than physical violence? Do
bullies act to mask their own secret fears? What is the role of revenge
in victim–bully dynamics? Is a bully problem ever completely
vanquished, or is it managed on an ongoing basis? Those who explore this
play will likely identify with J.J. and her resourceful friends—or
with the bully Raymond—and come to realize that the anxieties of
everyday living can be overcome, at least for the moment. Recommended.